Most might not know, but Berto and I are teammates this year. Although this is my first round of the year (as I came to the party late), Berto has been holding his own for the Team the first two rounds. In one word, I can sum up this weekend for both myself and Berto …

After Round 3, which was my first race weekend where I raced ever, I knew that I had maybe one more race weekend I would be able to get to by the end of the year, depending on how Berto looks in the championship. I wasn’t going to bail on helping Berto, especially if we …

It has arrived! The new 2012 AFM year end banquet film by 4theriders great Kevin Fanady! Last years video was so amazing that this years video wouldn’t be able to top it. Boy was I wrong! This video is just as good, if not BETTER! And on top of all that, you’ll find MotoGloss bikes …

Most might not know, but Berto and I are teammates this year. Although this is my first round of the year (as I came to the party late), Berto has been holding his own for the Team the first two rounds.

In one word, I can sum up this weekend for both myself and Berto – IMPROVEMENT.

This weekend was my first as finances didn’t allow me to do the first two rounds. But now that I have a job that pays enough to do extra-curricular activities, I can race the rest of the year. It was really tough to see the first two rounds go by without riding and knowing that once I joined, I would be behind in points and starting from the back of the grids. But it all works out for a reason and I couldn’t ask for anything more than to get out there and race and try and improve and set myself up for next year. My ultimate goal is to win a Class Championship and move up to Expert.

So this weekend started like any other race weekend. I met Berto at the airport hanger to load everything up. This means that I usually load everything up and Berto shows up to say ‘Goodbye’ HAHA. But this weekend was different. I get off work and head to the hanger and Berto is already there organizing and getting things ready! I was shocked but I’m not gonna get used to it. We finished loading everything up and I headed to Thunderhill Thursday night. Berto wasn’t riding on Friday but I was. I needed the laps as I haven’t been to Thunderhill since PTT’s Year End event at the end of 2013.

I get to the track, crash out outside the gate. I get in the gate and setup the shop and get on track just before lunch. I get many laps and get back in the groove of doing some fast laps. When I say fast laps, I mean fast for me, which for a track day is 2:05. I didn’t want to push it as Turn 3 had a new patch repave that claimed many bikes in the wake of the day and I just wanted to make it through to Saturday Practice. I knew for Saturday Practice I wanted to get down to 2:00 flat. 2:00.214 was my fastest lap from last year in a race, but I know I’m faster than that, I just need to push for it.

On Saturday, the best time I got down to in practice was a 2:02.164. I didn’t feel good about it as I know the pace of the front runners in Novice on a 600 are doing 1:55-1:57’s in Race Pace. But I had to deal with it and suit up for Clubman Middleweight anyway. No time to worry about practice as racing is a whole different story.

Clubman Middleweight – Since I had no points from the first two rounds, I started in the back of the grid in 20th position out of 23 riders. My goal was simple: break 2:00 and get a in the Top 10. I usually get great starts and get up to the front very quickly. Well, I got a horrible ‘Berto Start’ and didn’t make up more than 1 or 2 positions going into turn 1. As I go through Turn 2, I am behind the mid pack on the inside and at the apex, two bikes come together as the person on the outside comes inside into the bike on the inside. Right in front of me! I went to neutral throttle to get the bike to go more inside and stay close to the grass as the two bikes tangle up and start to push to the outside. Somehow they both saved it. And the worst part is they stayed in front of me! I had a lot of work to do to get up front and keep the lead pack in my sights. As the first lap completed, I was in 16th. Lap after lap I picked off people. After Lap 2 I was in 13th, after Lap 3 I was in 10th. I stayed there until Lap 5 when I passed my buddy Alex Wallace, that I was fighting with for a couple laps. We had a good battle going and I knew that if I kept the pressure on him he might make a mistake that I can take advantage of. I out-brake him into turn 9. As he tries to keep up and take the position back, he moves to my inside and overshoot his brake marker into 9 and shoots wide. I go underneath him and take the position. I finish in 8th place. After the race I realize that I only did a 2:01.497. It was disappointing knowing that I didn’t get under 2 minutes, but I was happy to make it through the traffic and get a Top 10. 1 out of 2 wasn’t bad!

I totally forgot to put the GoPro on the bike for this race so there isn’t any video….VERY SORRY!

Photo Credit – Oxymoron Photography

Sunday races were going to be Novice 600 Production and Novice Formula 1. Sunday warm up was just a couple laps to get loose.

Photo Credit – Oxymoron Photography

Novice 600 Production – Again I started in the back of the grid in 18th of 19 bikes. I knew I needed a good start, unlike Clubman to even be a little competitive. I knew that the Top 3 in this class (Joe Brown, Ilya Roytman and Wiles Stapp) have been killing it all year so far and it would be hard to keep up. We did have a smaller grid so if I got a good start I might be able to get a tow and keep them in sight.

As the flag flys, I got a great start, but didn’t have the Cahones to stay on the gas through Turn 1, but on the exit I made up for it. As we make our way around I find myself behind Max Sawicky on lap 3. I follow in for a lap trying to find a weakness I can take advantage of. I thought I found it in Turn 9 and overtook him. But he found his way back in front of me going into 10. As we come out of 15 down the front straight, I get a great drive on him and draft for a second before moving just to his inside to make a move into turn 1. As we get to the flag station, $h!t hit the fan. Max chops throttle and moves to his left right into my path! I’m in 6th gear full throttle right on his tail! I don’t let go of the gas until I make contact with his left side. As I hit him, my bike goes into a huge tank slapper throwing me up onto the tank. I keep telling myself to steer it away from the dirt or it won’t end well. After a couple seconds I save it and look back to see what happened. Max was OK thank god! Then I see three bikes parked at the flag station! What the heck just happened?! I see a red flag flying by the wall from one of the turn workers. Why on earth is no flag flying in the Starter Stand? I saw no flag coming down the front straight as Max was right in my line of sight the whole time. Also didn’t we change the rule of stopping on track for a red flag? Why on earth are those bikes stopped?! After reviewing the video I see that one of the bikes is my buddy Alex Wallace #613. He was slowing up because two bikes in front of him were coming to a stop. The two bikes in front of him was number #987 and another that I haven’t been able to identify. I really want to know why they stopped on track. Did they not know the rule? This was the exact reason why the rule was changed, to avoid these kind of situations. After looking back at the video, I saw that a Black Flag was flying in Turn 13 and 14, but Max and I both missed them as we were focused on our markers. Partially my fault, but again, the rule changed to NO STOPPING on track for this reason alone. Watch the video and see the whole thing unfold.

I make my way back to our pits and jump off the bike. I thought that since the leaders had gone through and completed 3 laps that the race was completed. Then I hear “This is first call for a full restart of Race #5 600 Production.” HOLY SMOKES! Put the warmers on now! Get gas in the bike! Get some water! Wait, look at the bike and see if I have a ride-able bike! I see on the right side of the lower fairing has a huge gash. Looks like where Max’s rearset slashed right through it. Now my right pinky hurts. I’m able bend it so I pull on it thinking it might have been jammed. I’m able to squeeze it closed so I’m ok. Oh joy, bike got damaged..

So I put some duct tape on it and all was good. It was still structurally sound, I just felt more comfortable with some tape on it.

Third call comes and warmers come off and we go out and grid up again. This time I get a great start as well. I start on the back row again. By the end of the first lap I’m in 15th. I thought I got a better start than that. After Lap 2 I was in 8th, and after lap 3 I was in 7th. I finally got back up behind Max. This time I’m the last bike of a train of 4 of us. Nose to tail. I try to find a place to pass, I just can’t find one. This is just inexperience talking as there’s always an opening, you just have to create it yourself.

I follow this train until the finish and placed 5th. But there is a silver lining. I broke the 2 minute mark and set a PR of 1:59.294. IMPROVEMENT. I ran consistent 2:00 times as well. Unfortunately I forgot to restart the GoPro for the restart as I was in a little rush.

Novice Formula 1 – No need to explain this race, you can watch the video. I spent a lot of the time by myself in a lonely position of “I wish I was 2 seconds a lap faster” and “I wish I would have had more confidence in myself to push it harder through the first two turns after the start.” Maybe I wouldn’t have spent so much time alone…I started 12th, finished 6th.

After the dust settled and everything was said and done, I sit here reflecting on what was a pretty positive weekend. I can complain about the fact that I didn’t get any hardware to put up, or the fact that I’m not quite up to par with the top 4-5 guys, but I’m not going to. I’m going to sit here and feel accomplished. I am exceptionally proud of my weekend. I am feeling very accomplished for it being my first race weekend and knowing the challenges I had ahead of me without any points on the board. But one thing I am not going to do is SETTLE. Not for a minute. There isn’t any time to settle. There is 4 rounds left to get up front and battle with those top guys and if I let up now, I won’t have that opportunity to battle with those guys and IMPROVE. I didn’t come to race to say I did, I race because I want to win!

Wiles – I’m coming for you! See ya next round!

There are a lot of people I want to thank for supporting me. First and foremost my Fiancé, Edie. She was there all weekend supporting me and pushing me when doubt crept into my thoughts. Thank you love!

I also want to give a big Thank You to my teammate and great friend Berto. You have gone above and beyond helping and mentoring me to push myself. You always find time in your busy schedule at race weekends to give me some insight and feed me that knowledge you have on how to get faster. Can’t thank you enough.

Catalyst Reaction – You guys were there to help with all my bike needs; Suspension AND motor. Im able to make my bike go around the track because of you guys. Thanks for all the support and being such great friends. Also thanks for the new Moto-D undersuit! That thing rocks!

MotoGloss Paint – For all your painting needs, give them a call. They will make your racebike look nice and shiny until you wad it! Now I need to get them (ME!) to do some bodywork now.

CT Racing – Cory and Chris run such a professional setup. There Pirelli tires give you the best grip and all the confidence in the world that your bike isn’t going anywhere you don’t want it to. Best tires in the paddock in my opinion. Thanks guys for all your help this weekend! Especially thanks to Russell for hanging out in our pits and being Crew Chief for a weekend. Your help was nothing short of amazing.

Fastline – Alex is so knowledgeable when it comes to tuning. He has got my bike so dialed in. After my motor was built, Alex has tuned it to perfection and I can’t thank him enough.

Oxymoron Photography – Thank you Max for taking such sweet shots and capturing all the action as it unfolds!

4theriders – Joe came out and took some awesome photos. Great to see him around as always!

And thank you to the AFM Corner Workers and staff. You guys work so hard to make everything run so smoothly and you do it for nothing in return. Thank you so very much!

Special Thanks goes out to:

– Suomy
– Leo Vince
– CRG
– Pacific Track Time
– BARF Racing
– EDR Performance
– Woodcraft
– GoPro
– Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys – Thank you to all who signed up for the BAM Program. If you weren’t able to sign up, please go to [url=www.russbrown.com/what-is-bam.html]HERE[/url] and read about it. It is a Rider-for-Rider program that is free to sign up. There are over 1.5 million members and help is only a phone call away when you are in need.

After Round 3, which was my first race weekend where I raced ever, I knew that I had maybe one more race weekend I would be able to get to by the end of the year, depending on how Berto looks in the championship. I wasn’t going to bail on helping Berto, especially if we are in the mix of things to get into the top 10 and/or to win a championship.

This all changed after Round 4 though…

I have been doing all the trackdays on the Friday before just to get some riding in and to practice myself. When Round 4 came along, I started that Friday like any other…waiting on Berto…

I ride around lap after lap, not really improving, but just taking it easy and enjoying the day. Around the afternoon time, Brandon Kyee and myself have done multiple laps around while he was on the Z2 Trackdays Yamaha R6. I was able to keep up with him for the most part, but im guessing its because he was taking it easy. He was saying the suspension wasn’t quite set up and was having a hard time with it.

He was really wanting to ride a 600 this round and since im a nice guy and try to help out where I can (at least I think I am LOL) I offered my bike to Brandon for the weekend if he wanted to race it. So he take the bike out for the last session of the day. Talk about nervous! But I knew it was in good hands.

When he comes in, the lap timer says 1:54! Without setting a think up for him, he was flying. He says it was the suspension that he loved (cause everything else was stock). K-tech, that’s whats up! That pretty much gave him the motivation to accept my offer and try and get my MotoGloss/Catalyst Reaction R6 on the box.

Long story short, Saturday comes around, 2nd session in to the day, engine failure. So Brandon didn’t race a 600 that weekend…

So the engine build process began. Jim and Nickie at Catalyst Reaction stepped up BIG TIME and offered there time for this build. Jim has been building engines for years, most people just don’t know because his shop is primarily a “suspension” shop. But Jim knows his sh*t and was excited to help out to get the MotoGloss bike back up and running.

So first things were first, get the old engine out.

That took all of about 30 minutes to do since Berto ACTUALLY knows how to do this process. Probably cause he goes through engines like a fat kid does cake!

After that, engine went to Catalyst Reaction. This was when Jim tore it apart to see the damage that we had from engine failure from before. It was bad…

So suffice to say, this engine was more gone that we had hoped and would take way too much in parts and machine work to get it back to where we want. Talk about bummed. Now I need to find a new engine and at this point in the season, that’s almost impossible! But I put the word out to a few people. Not 45 minutes after Nickie had texted me these pictures (at 10pm I might add – up late working hard) I had sourced a new engine! Oscar Fernandez stepped up and let me buy his backup 2012 engine that was in great condition with very little miles (albeit stock).

The next day I pick it up and drop it off to Jim. Jim then gives me the parts list we need that evening and I call up Mach 1 Motorsports and placed an order for some parts. Mach 1 is great for getting the parts for an SS build because they know there stuff and how to place orders so you aren’t wasting your money on things you don’t need. Example: There is a gasket kit that is an upgrade from stock gaskets and comes in a YEC kit that cost $1200…but ordered individually, they are like $10 apiece. I didn’t know that but Mach 1 informed me that they could get them individually and not in the kit.

Parts came in, dropped off to Jim, and within about 3 days, the engine was built!

Then in the bike it went….with Bertos help of course.

Then the bike was off to Alex at Fastline for dyno and break-in.

Bike came back after all was said and done with 120.14hp. I wanted 120hp so we hit our target. This was all one on Thursday before the race weekend! Last minute, but Alex was able to help out in a big way and squeeze me in to his already super busy schedule. I can’t thank him enough!

So now we are off to Round 7. I headed up Friday morning and on the way up with the big Fun Mover, realized that the wind was crazy! It was like driving a kite! I get to the track and it’s a steady 25mph with gusts in the 40’s. Ya, I don’t really want to ride, but I need to put laps on this engine. So I go out and do a nice easy half day after lunch. I wasn’t going to push anything since the weekend was supposed to be zero wind, so all the brake markers will change anyway.

Saturday morning came and it was time for practice.

My best time was my standard 2:03’s. My goal was to brake 2 minutes this weekend and I felt comfortable enough that I knew I could do it. The engine was running so strong and gave me such great drive out of corners. One thing I forgot to mention was I switched from Dynojet PC/IM/QS system to a Bazzaz TC/FI/QS system which seemed to feel better on my shifts and was very smooth through the gears.

I was signed up for Clubman Middleweight on Saturday, and Novice 750 Prod, Novice 600 Prod, and Novice F1 on Sunday.

First up with Clubman Middleweight on saturday.

New Pirelli DOT Supercorsa’s on (SC2 front / SC1 rear) and I was ready to go!

Video Here

I started from like 13th or something originally. We had a totally of 2 red flags and 2 restarts. By the time the race third start came around, a couple riders weren’t on the grid in front of me. I saw that and realized if I get a good start, I can battle for a podium. I knew (just like everyone else on the grid) that nobody was going to catch Ricardo Villegas and Manual Hernandez, they have been running mid 55’s all year.

I got a decent start but really slow through one. I realized its because im going through in 3rd gear rather than my normal 4th and it through off my whole timing. I eventually got it right by the end of the weekend. I settled into 6th place and just couldn’t make up ground on anyone in front of me. I need to find 5 seconds a lap quick! My best was a 2:01.213. Pretty good considering last round my best was a 2:02.195 in Clubman. So I got faster, and that’s what matters.

Sunday…

Warm up was nothing special, just scrub in my body and bike and get ready for Novice 750 Prod.

Novice 750 Production

Video Here

I gridded up 5th here on the inside. This start was a bit of confusion. They went with one grid with the experts rather that split them up. That means that some people had their hands up and didn’t go when the experts went and some went with the experts. I figured as soon as I didn’t see the guy holding the 2nd wave sign in front of us that we were all going at once.

After lap 1 I settled into 3rd place, and held that all the way until the checkered! First podium! After the race I realized that my left shin was cramping pretty bad. This was a horrible problem as it slows my downshifts/upshifts and just screws my head up. I know it was because the shifter was too high and the angle was tough to and took along of range of motion to shift. My best time was a 2:01.492 compared to a 2:01.698 from Round 3 (my first race round).

So after this race, I re-positioned the shift lever hoping that it would help my shin. I decided not to race 600 Prod as I need the rest for my shin and I was going to be in the back of a stacked grid and wouldn’t have any advantage for doing this race (no points).

Novice F1

This race was after lunch and I felt pretty good about it and getting another podium. The race started and I got a great start from 8th position here as we also did one wave with the experts. I got a great start and what helped me was the fact that David la Bree and Sergio Fernandez got too wild with their wheelies and had to back off which gave me a great start to the race. I settled into 3rd place behind Ricardo Villegas, who checked out right away and Rob Reis. I pass Rob into 10 on the brakes and jump up to 2nd. I’m stoked at this point as I feel good, loose, and MY fastest. I run a pretty empty track until lap three when going into Turn 14 I get passed by both David la Bree and Sergio Fernandez. I knew it was going to happen as my shin at this point is really hurting and cramping really bad.

I stay behind the pair until Turn 6 of lap 4 and they pull away from me. I get passed for 4th place going into turn 10 by Jahan Raissi. Then going into Turn 2 of the final lap I get passed by Yovany Alvarez for 5th place. Also in the video you will see Rob Reis tried to get around the outside of me going into Turn 14 on the final lap, but I was able to get a better drive out of 15 and hold him off to the line. So I had potential for a 2nd place…only to get 6th. My best lap time was a 2:01.154 compared to last round of 2:01.448.

All in all for the weekend I improved my times throughout the weekend and better than last round. I didn’t hit the 2:00 or below mark which was my goal, but I improved. This gives me a good base going into next season and competing from Round 1 and all the way through.

Competing in only two rounds this year, I got 54th out of 155 Novices in Overall Novice and 30th out of 140 in Clubman Overall. That’s kinda cool.

I want to say THANKS to a few people and sponsors that have helped throughout the year even though I didn’t compete all year round.

Berto Wooldridge – Berto you’re awesome and a good friend. Your help this year was huge and I can’t thank you enough. I can’t wait until next year and the big things we have planned!

Catalyst Reaction – From the K-Tech suspension to the motor build, Jim and Nickie has been 100% supportive of me all year. I call them my friends, not my sponsor.

Fastline – Alex helped out big time with the tuning and Bazzaz install. Thank you for squeezing me in to your busy schedule! Not only is he good at what he does, he’s a great person too.

Special thanks goes to:
– Corey and Chris from CT Racing for the sticky rubber that kept me glued to the track, and the awesome service you and your guys give us.
– Ken and Deanna with Pacific Track Time. Always great to see them and the help they give me to get track time is always appreciated.
– Suomy for making my head look good and safe! First Suomy I’ve worn and so I can’t say enough about how comfy and awesome it is!
– Woodcraft for the necessities I had to get on the bike.
– Leo Vince Exhaust for the best exhaust out there.
– Oxymoron Photography for the cool shots throughout the weekend.
– Ace Custom Graphics for all the decals to make the bike look as good as it does in all the photos.
– MotoGloss Paint for making the bike stand out from the crowd!

It has arrived! The new 2012 AFM year end banquet film by 4theriders great Kevin Fanady! Last years video was so amazing that this years video wouldn’t be able to top it. Boy was I wrong! This video is just as good, if not BETTER! And on top of all that, you’ll find MotoGloss bikes throughout!

Today we took Linda Machado and the MotoGloss bike out to a secluded area and took some sexy photos. Not all are completed yet, but here’s a little teaser of what you can expect! Thanks to Steve Francis for the great photo work!